The present invention relates to a skate.
Conventional skates are normally constituted by a rigid shell which is associated, in a lower region and at the sole, with a frame which is usually U-shaped. The wings of the frame are directed towards the ground and two or more wheels are pivoted therebetween so as to be able to rotate freely and are thus mutually in-line.
Inside the rigid shell there is usually provided a soft innerboot suitable to improve the fit for the user.
These conventional skates, however, entail two drawbacks: the stiffness of the shell, which is required in order to allow optimum transmission of forces from the foot to the wheels, is in contrast with the need to allow an optimum fit of the skate. In fact in the sports practice, the stiffness causes pain to the user at the various pressure regions of the foot.
On the other hand, although a lesser stiffness of the shell slightly improves fit, it does not allow optimum transmission of forces from the foot to the wheels.
In an attempt to obviate these drawbacks, German patent DE-3 043 425 discloses a skate composed of a nonrigid upper containing an insole provided with pins or rivets which pass at the sole, at the upper, at suitable holes formed in a stiffening element, and then at a wheel or blade supporting frame.
The stiffening element is thus arranged outside the nonrigid shoe and is constituted by a rigid sole, by a toe cap and by a counter for the heel, which also acts as a partial rear support for the ankle.
Also this type of skate, however, entails drawbacks. Because of the external position of the stiffening element and to the shape of the heel counter, the stiffening element adheres to the foot imperfectly, thus offering a discontinuous support for said foot; for example, during forward flexing the stiffening element does not follow the ankle.
WO-95/15094 relates to a shoe for skates which is composed of an external structure, padded elements arranged inside said external structure, and a lining arranged inside the internal structure and inside the padded elements; its characteristic is that it has a plastic insert arranged between the external structure and the padded elements and comprises a U-shaped heel counter arranged in the heel region and a portion extending upward so as to affect the ankle.
Also this skate, however, entails drawbacks, since it does not cope with the need to provide lateral containment for the entire skate because no kind of structure is provided in the front part, and it does not offer adequate support for fixing to the wheel supporting frame. Moreover, it is structurally complicated, needing various production steps that require care in positioning the various components before mutually associating them.